


Oasis

by Ravensandstars



Category: The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-03-06 10:06:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13408950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ravensandstars/pseuds/Ravensandstars
Summary: Whilst traveling, exhausted, through the labyrinth Lester and co end up in a diner, where Lester meets someone from his past.





	Oasis

**Author's Note:**

> This is 100% self-indulgent speculation after reading the preview for the burning maze. Enjoy!

It’s kind of funny, that even among the musty tunnels and dilapidated strip malls and bad Chinese joints the Labyrinth managed to create something like this. 

           This being, obviously, a 24-hour diner with nice home cooking.

Grover was the one who spotted it, and we were all so hungry we thought we’d imagined it at first. The only one brave enough to actually walk in was Meg, who just rolled her eyes at us.

“Come on, dummies,” she said, and I followed like the obedient slave.  Grover hesitated just a minute longer before following us in. 

Thankfully the diner was very real.  Pastel blue linoleum in need of a good power wash covered the floor, and dark booths with matching cushions were mostly filled with patrons, though whether that was an illusion for our benefit or they were lost souls I didn’t want to know.

It didn’t really matter anyways; the important thing was getting my stomach filled after almost three days of being empty.  Oh, how I missed the days where I was above such things as hunger!  I could just imagine Artemis laughing at me now, dangling a burger in front of me.

“I’m having burgers,” I said out loud as a waiter silently brought us to our table with three frayed paper menus. 

“Me too,” Meg seconded.

“Enchiladas for me, I hope they have enchiladas,” Grover said dreamily.  I laughed at the satyr’s strange obsession.  For a guardian of nature, he sure was fond of processed foods, but I didn’t dare share that opinion when Meg had already decked me over the shoulder once.

What? Her punches hurt!

“Oh my god they have soda too,” Grover moaned in ecstasy.  I completely understood his elation.  After all, the scent of mouthwateringly greasy food and the pictures on the menu were driving me wild.

“When is the waiter coming?” Meg asked with her usual impatience. 

“I’m so sorry for the delay, what can I get you folks.”

 

I knew that voice, I would have known it in my sleep.  I remembered that voice as it murmured softly in the night, and when it gasped its final breaths. 

I didn’t dare look up, and screwed my eyes tightly shut.  Meg and Grover were speaking to him, ordering their food, but all I could focus on was how hard my heart was pummeling against my ribcage. 

“Excuse me, sir, did you want anything?” 

When I finally mustered the courage to look up a dry sob caught in my throat. 

Hyacinthus had not changed at all.  He was still as regal as the prince he met in Sparta.  On that day, forever ago, a gold coronet had rested against his obsidian hair like a halo, white linen resting against his skin like clouds against a night sky. 

Now he wore a polyester black and white uniform, a black cap obscuring the soft coils I had once been so familiar with.  Eyes like amethysts watched me with concern. 

“Are you okay sir?”

I shook my head, hands curling into fists. 

“Hyacinthus,” I cried, unable to stop myself from saying the name that had haunted my dreams for more than a thousand years. 

For a moment recognition flashed in his eyes, and his face contorted for mere seconds before it smoothed out into a carefully blank expression.

“I’m sorry, did you want to order something?”

“A burger and Sprite,” I said, almost as mechanically as my beloved.

By all that was holy, it was really him.  It had to be him.

I saw Grover shoot me a worried look, while Meg just looked confused, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.

It was worth all the pain in the world, all the suffering, just to see the face of Hyacinthus once more.


End file.
